The Case of the Halloween Ghost

By John Erickson and Gerald L. Holmes

It's Halloween, and strange things are happening on the ranch. When darkness falls, Drover reports that he has seen a witch, a ghost, a pirate, and two skeletons on Slim’s front porch . . . and, these terrifying creatures were saying something about “Tricker Trees.” Can Hank and Drover solve the mystery--before they get too spooked?

• Language: English
• Publisher: MAVERICK BOOKS INC
• Release date: Oct 15, 1987
• ISBN: 9781591887096

Book preview

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The Case of the Halloween Ghost

John R. Erickson

Illustrations by Gerald L. Holmes

Maverick Books, Inc.

Publication Information

MAVERICK BOOKS

Published by Maverick Books, Inc.

P.O. Box 549, Perryton, TX 79070

Phone: [phone]

www.hankthecowdog.com

First published in the United States of America by Maverick Books, Inc. 1987,

Texas Monthly Press, 1988, and Gulf Publishing Company, 1990.

Subsequently published simultaneously by Viking Children’s Books and Puffin Books, members of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1999.

Currently published by Maverick Books, Inc., 2011.

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Copyright © John R. Erickson, 1987, 1989

All rights reserved

library of congress cataloging-in-publication data

Erickson, John R.

The case of the Halloween ghost / John R. Erickson ; illustrations by Gerald L. Holmes.

p. cm.

Originally published in series: Hank the Cowdog ; 9.

Summary: Hank the Cowdog has one of the scariest adventures of his life when he and his cowardly companion, Drover, find themselves in a strange and spooky place on Halloween night.

ISBN 978-1-59188-109-4 (pbk.)

[1. Dogs—Fiction. 2. Halloween—Fiction. 3. West (U.S.)—Fiction. 4. Humorous stories. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Holmes, Gerald L., ill. II. Title. III. Series: Erickson, John R.Hank the Cowdog ; 9.

PZ7.E72556Cat 1999 [fic]—dc21 98-41809 CIP AC

Hank the Cowdog® is a registered trademark of John R. Erickson.

Printed in the United States of America

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Dedication

To Kris on our 20th anniversary

Contents

Chapter One The Mystery Begins with Something Fishy

Chapter Two The Mystery of the Talking Petunia

Chapter Three Slim Cleans House

Chapter Four Miss Viola and Her Dogs

Chapter Five Miss Viola’s Peculiar Eating Habits

Chapter Six Strange and Eerie Sounds in the Night

Chapter Seven Two Ugly Black Things in the Trees

Chapter Eight Junior Claims He Saw a Ghost

Chapter Nine The Case of the Mysterious Tricker Trees

Chapter Ten Caution: Hazardous and Scary Material!

Chapter Eleven You’ll Think It Wasn’t a Ghost, but It Was

Chapter Twelve Don’t Worry, We Escaped but Just Barely

Guarantee of 100% Truth

Chapter One: The Mystery Begins with Something Fishy

It’s me again, Hank the Cowdog. Slim’s house was cold and also a terrible mess, and I haven’t gotten to the part about the ghost yet.

There’s a reason for that. A guy can’t get his entire story into the first paragraph, no matter how hard he tries. So you’ll just have to be patient. I’ll get to the part about the ghosts as quick as I can. And when I do, you’ll probably wish I hadn’t.

What we’ve got cooking here is one of the scariest stories of my entire career, mainly be­cause it involves a GHOST. I didn’t think I be­lieved in ghosts, but as you’ll soon see, the ghost we encountered didn’t really care whether I believed in him or not.

So there you are.

It all began, mysteriously enough, at the be­ginning, and I happen to know the exact time it began: around six o’clock on the evening of October 30.

Drover and I had been making a routine patrol around the western quadrant of ranch headquarters, when all at once we encountered Pete the Barncat down at the calf shed.

There was nothing particularly mysterious about that, because the calf shed was one of his favorite loafing spots. He had several favorite loafing spots. He loved loafing above everything except himself.

Have I ever mentioned that I don’t like cats? I don’t like cats, Pete in particular. So when I saw him primping and preening himself there by the calf shed, I slipped up behind him, said WOOF! real loud, and gave him a good scare.

Ho, ho. Hee, hee. Ha, ha. I love it!

He turned wrongside-out, hissed, gave out his usual Reeeeerr and climbed the nearest post.

Sorry, Cat, but we don’t allow loafing or loitering on this outfit. If you’d been taking care of the mouse problem, I wouldn’t have had to do that.

He glared down at me with his big cat eyes. Oh, it’s only Hankie.

Yeah, and Drover, said Drover.

I thought maybe it was a ghost.

A ghost? said I. Not likely, Cat. I run a tight ship here and I don’t allow ghosts on my ranch.

Oh really? Did you know that tomorrow night is Halloween?

No, I didn’t know that. Now ask me if I care.

Mmmmm, all right. Do you care?

Not even a little bit. But, for the sake of argument, what is Halloween?

Pete moved off the post and parked himself on the top board of the fence. Funny, how a cat can do that. Halloween is the scariest night of the year. It’s the night when all the ghosts and goblins come out.

Oh my gosh, said Mister Scared-of-His-Own-Shadow, I don’t think I’ll like that!

Quiet, Drover. I’ll handle this. I turned a withering gaze up to the cat. For your information, Kitty, we don’t observe Halloween on this ranch, and if you run into any gobs or ghostlins, you might tell them the same thing.

"It’s ghosts or goblins," said Drover.

I stared at him. What?

I said, ghosts or goblins.

Yes? Is that supposed to mean something?

You said ‘gobs or ghostlins.’

I did not.

Did too, I heard you.

And so did I, Hankie. That was the cat. "You said ‘gobs or ghostlins.’ But

Reviews for The Case of the Halloween Ghost

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love the audio edition of The Case of the Halloween Ghost, but the print version also good.Pete the Barncat warns Hank the Cowdog that tomorrow night is Halloween (That first syllable is pronounced the same as the nickname 'Hal,' as in 'hallowed [holy] ground, not like the word 'hollow'). Hank is arrogant enough to declare that Halloween is not observed on their ranch. Worse, he declares that what he believes is the definition of what is. Trust Pete to get back at him. (Is that cat being deliberately insulting when he calls Hank 'Hankie'? After all, that sounds the same as 'hanky,' which is short for 'handkerchief,' that reusable cloth used to wipe off sweat, tears, and snot. A Kleenex is the disposable version of a hanky.)Drover is worried about ghosts and goblins. Not Hank. He's more interested in spending some quality time in front of Slim Chance's wood-burning stove. The Lopers' hired hand lives in the hired hand house. The description of the way Slim keeps that shack means I wouldn't want to enter it without a full container of sanitizing wipes. YICK!Slim is planning on having his lady friend, Miss Viola, over for dinner. He doesn't want her to see the filthy mess he lives in, so he starts cleaning up. Kids might consider his method to be just fine, but it would never pass inspection. Hank and Drover are given the task of getting rid of the mice. I live out in the county. Our cats take care of the mice that get in our house, but we (make that 'I') get to clean up their droppings. Considering the number of mice the dogs are chasing, Slim's shack must be like a giant rodent bathroom!The condition of the food and the kitchen for the meal Slim cooks for Miss Viola turned my stomach. Will that nice lady actually eat it????First Hank hears mysterious singing coming from the cake house near Slim's place. Later, he and Drover investigate some odd noises in the night. The investigation and its aftermath are quite funny. So's the encounter Hank and Drover have with Black and Jack, Miss Viola's family's dogs.The best scene is the 'TRICKER TREES' one, which leads to a spooky climax. I enjoyed Miss Viola's explanation. Read the print version for the illustrations, but listen to the audio version for the voices, singing, and sound effects. Either way, it's a good Halloween story.Page 123 has Hank's guarantee of 100% truth, which made me chuckle. Two pages listing the series' titles follow, with a description of what one gets for joining Hank's security force on the last page. (Love the look of scorn on Pete's face -- follow his eyes for which item he's staring at.)